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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. kid — child
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. ground — a position
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. race — the arms race
  8. spring — of water
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kid — to tease
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. spring — the season
  15. wake — a trail
  16. race — a contest
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. race — humankind
  21. squash — the sport
  22. spring — a coil
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com